


Expectant

by Hours_Gone_By



Series: Sea and Shore [2]
Category: Transformers – All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Pregnancy, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe – Merpeople, Decisions, Friends With Benefits, Gen, High-Risk Pregnancy, M/M, Mech Preg (Transformers), Protective Big Brother Barricade, Referenced Sex, Siblings, Transformers Sparklets, Unplanned Pregnancy, Waiting, Winter, messages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28885359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hours_Gone_By/pseuds/Hours_Gone_By
Summary: When Prowl offered himself to Jazz for the night, neither of them had any thought beyond enjoying themselves and each other. Shortly after that, and with no way to contact Jazz, Prowl discovers that night had far-reaching consequences.(Prowl's POV during the storm season in Chapter Two ofStorms.)
Relationships: Jazz/Prowl, Prowl & Barricade & Smokescreen
Series: Sea and Shore [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2118051
Comments: 9
Kudos: 73





	Expectant

Over one stellar-cycle ago, Prowl had misjudged the storm season and come too close to land. He had wound up beached during a storm, tangled in a net, and worried that he would be stranded till his brothers found him. He had been trapped in his root form, not his bipedal alt mode, and there was no chance he could pretend he was anything other than a mermech. Prowl had been wondering how long he might have to wait for his brothers when he'd spotted the land-dweller walking along the beach toward him. He knew the land-dweller; this was the mech who often walked along the beach and sang. Prowl often came near the beach to listen, but that was different from encountering him face-to-face. It was different than a land-dweller coming across a type of mech whose existence was a carefully kept secret. They had all grown up hearing cautionary tales of mermecha who had run afoul of land-dwellers, and Prowl prepared to defend himself.

His preparations had not been needed. Jazz had freed him from the net and given him fuel and shelter while he healed from injuries. Prowl had found himself enjoying Jazz's company – and the treats he taught Prowl to bake – and regretted having to leave. But he had come back, been welcomed back, and had become fast friends with Jazz over many visits. Prowl had learned his lesson about coming too close to land in the storm season, but that season was not quite there yet, and he wanted to see Jazz one last time.

It had not escaped Prowl's attention that Jazz was a handsome mech and an appealing one. Prowl had wanted, for some time, to interface with him but had never offered. But that night, in the warmth and intimacy of the kitchen while the storm darkened the sky and rain battered the windows, he did. Jazz accepted, gladly sharing his bed and his body with Prowl, proving himself an attentive and considerate lover. Prowl would have stayed longer if he could, but storm season was upon them, and he had to return home.

"I'm happy you stayed the night," Jazz told him the next day as they said their farewells on the beach. "It'll be a long winter without your visits. I want you to stay safe, though."

"And you as well," Prowl said and indulged in one last kiss to hold him over until they could meet again. "Be safe, Jazz."

"Safe travels, Prowler. See you in the spring."

Prowl swam back home feeling content and satisfied, already fondly reminiscing about the pleasurable night he'd spent with his friend. It was a shame that they could not lie together again for half a stellar-cycle, but Prowl was quite sure Jazz would accept his offer again come the spring. It was not so long to wait, after all.

A cycle later, Prowl received a notification on his HUD that made it seem like very long to wait indeed.

Prowl stared for a long time at the notification informing him that a sparklet had begun to bud from his spark. He had not – his intent had not been – _Jazz's_ intent had not been -

Prowl abruptly forced that processing thread to terminate. Of course there had been no intent. The possibility of contraceptive protocol failure was low, but it was not zero. Nor was Prowl without options: the sparklet had just begun to bud, and he had deca-cycles to decide whether or not to keep them. Keep the sparklet he and Jazz had ignited together. If he could only talk to Jazz… But he could not. Prowl had already experienced the dangers of travelling in the early storm season. There was no guarantee that if he were trapped on land again, it would work out as well as it had with Jazz.

He wasn't alone, though. Prowl had his brothers, and while it might be awkward at first, he could talk to them. He didn't have any illusions that it would be easy, though.

* * *

"That land-dweller took advantage of you?" Barricade, always protective and sometimes aggressive, was predictably outraged. "Did he - ?"

"Barricade, calm down," Smokescreen interrupted. "You're not helping."

"Jazz didn't take advantage of me, Barricade," Prowl corrected, hating that anyone might think that night had been anything other than wanted and enjoyed by both parties. "I offered. I was fully willing and maintained my consent throughout."

"But he – "

"It was utterly consensual. Jazz has treated me with nothing but respect," Prowl said firmly. "This part of the discussion is over Barricade. I've come to you for support. I – am not prepared for this."

"The sparklet," Smokescreen said gently. "Of course. We're here for you, Prowl. Tell us what you need."

"Is the ignis going to be involved?" Barricade asked.

"I don't know. How can I? I can't tell him about this until spring, and I'll have had to make a decision well before then. I didn't intend to bud, I hadn't intended to have a creation anytime soon and certainly not unplanned." Prowl folded his arms and drew his fins in close. "The decision to keep or not keep the child is mine, but if I do decide to keep them, it will be up to Jazz whether he wishes to be involved or not."

"Of course it is," Smokescreen said and pulled his brother into his arms. "But, you're not alone with this."

"Yeah," Barricade said gruffly and put a hand on Prowl's shoulder. "Yeah, we're here for you, Prowl. Whatever you decide you're going to do."

Prowl shut his optics off, feeling better even if he still didn't know what to do. "Thank you."

* * *

Cycles passed, and deca-cycles and Prowl ran simulations, meditated upon the sparklet, consulted his physician, and still could not decide what to do. What if he could not raise the child, even with support from his brothers? Would he be a good creator or a poor one? What if he could not bond with them once they emerged, or -? The doubts went on and on.

The monitor on his HUD showing the progress of the budding sparklet crept closer to the point where he would not be able to initiate termination protocols himself. Prowl could seek medical assistance past that point, but he would prefer not to undergo a procedure if he didn't have to. He still could not decide.

The caves and walls of the city, always comforting before, suddenly felt too small and tight. Prowl could not go to the surface, not with the storms' dangers, but he knew where the deep, still waters were. He swam out and out until the lights of the city were mere pinpoints, and then he rolled onto his back, parallel to the surface and the ocean floor, and floated, halfway between the two.

Prowl relaxed as he did when he meditated, but he did not try to clear his mind. Instead, he focused inward, on his own spark and the smaller one not entirely separated from it. He could not feel the smaller spark; they had no awareness of their own at this point. They would not have any way to interpret sensation or input for orbital cycles yet, when the sparklet would migrate to their structure. Their structure would begin construction in Prowl's forge all too soon, and he ran a hand from his chest down to his abdomen, tracing the path the sparklet would take. He pictured his forge rounded and swollen, hot from the construction taking place inside, imagined taking on the ungainly movements of other carrying mecha. He envisioned what he knew of emergence, and the thought of experiencing that was – well, mildly horrifying.

Then, for the first time, Prowl imagined the mechlet, small and silvery and new, looking up at him with innocent optics. Trusting him, dependent on him. Would they look like him, or Jazz, or have aspects of both, he wondered. Prowl imagined raising the mechlet to maturity, guiding them, teaching them everything he knew and discovering what they liked, who they were.

That…that was appealing. Prowl was not entirely sold on the idea of carrying, but the rest of it? Prowl spent joors thinking on it, raising the child and being their parent, and at last, decided that he wanted that very much.

"Very well," he murmured aloud into the currents, even though the sparklet couldn't hear him, his decision made. "I'll meet you in the summer, little one."

There was no response now, but someday, there would be. Prowl found himself looking forward to it.

* * *

Now that he had chosen to carry the sparklet to term, Prowl's primary physician referred him to a medic specializing in prenatal care, named Lifeline. She was located in one of the hospital's dry sections, one that Prowl was not familiar with, unsurprisingly. He would never have had a need to visit it before—another example of how the sparklet was already changing his life.

Lifeline was slender, green and white instead of the usual medic red and white. Her office featured comfortable furniture and looked more like a counsellor's office than a doctor's. She introduced herself, asked Prowl a few questions, and then had him lie down on the examination table so she could scan him. The scan took a little longer than the scans Prowl's regular doctor had done, but he supposed that could simply be because Lifeline was a specialist. Finally, she let him get up and offered him a seat in one of the armchairs, reviewing the scans while he settled himself.

"Alright, Prowl," she said, sitting across from him. "I've scanned the sparklet and your forge, and while the sparklet is perfectly healthy, I've noticed a few mineral deficiencies in you. They're easily corrected, and I'll send you a list of supplements you can take to make them up. So long as you do, your sparklet's development shouldn't be impacted. The only thing that really concerns me is some aspects of your forge, specifically the components that engage during emergence. There's a chance, though it's not certain right now, that they may attempt to engage early. I want to keep an optic on it, and I want you to come in every two deca-cycles instead of once an orbital-cycle for monitoring."

Prowl had put a hand on his chest plates while she was speaking, even though he couldn't feel any sign of the sparklet through his armour.

"Are they in danger?" he asked, trying not to think about – no. He would not panic. He would wait for Lifeline's response.

"Not at the moment," Lifeline said honestly and soothingly. "There is always a risk, but your sparklet is strongly attached, has a normal spin rate for their current stage of development, and is putting on mass as they should. You may be at risk of early emergence, although I can't say with certainty right now, after the sparklet transfers to the structure your forge will construct for it. It's also possible that the components will correct themselves before then, although that is admittedly rare."

"I see," Prowl said slowly, focusing on the monitor widget on his HUD that showed the sparklet's development in solid green for reassurance. "What, if anything, can I do to minimize the risk to the child?"

"For now, get plenty of rest, keep yourself fuelled above eighty percent, and take the supplements. You can maintain your regular duties for now, but we may have to revisit that," Lifeline said. "Certainly when construction begins. It all depends on how development goes and what precautions we'd need to take."

Prowl nodded. "I understand."

Lifeline's tone became carefully neutral. "Will the ignis be attending any of the appointments with you?"

"No," Prowl said. "He is a land-dweller. He – I have not been able to get word to him because of the storm season. He doesn't know of the child yet."

"Alright, and do you have familial support?"

"Yes, two brothers. They've already promised assistance." Barricade was still not happy with, or perhaps merely about, Jazz, but his dissatisfaction didn't extend to the sparklet, for which Prowl was grateful. "I will inform the ignis as soon as possible, but I don't know if he'll choose to be involved or not."

"I understand. Since the ignis is a land-dweller, there's a possibility that your creation may have a tool or vehicle-based alt mode," Lifeline said. "I'm not sure if you were aware that neither set of genetics is dominant."

Prowl pictured, briefly, a tiny copy of Jazz nestled in his arms. "That changes nothing for me. Will it present any difficulties during my carry?"

"I don't expect so. The most likely outcome is that the mechlet will be smaller during construction than usual, at least for us, and develop bipedally." She added, "bipedal development doesn't by itself mean that's their root mode. Development in alt isn't unknown among mermecha."

Prowl nodded again to show he understood and asked, "when will I be able to view them directly?"

"We'll revisit that at your next appointment," Lifeline promised. "I know, it seems like forever, but you're not ready to open your spark chamber just yet. I'll send you the image captures I took during your scan in the meantime, so you don't have to wait."

"Thank you."

Prowl managed to wait until he got back to his own home to look at the scans Lifeline had sent him, even though he was so, so eager to see what his sparklet looked like. He turned the tablet on and waited impatiently through the short boot sequence.

"…oh," he whispered, staring at the tablet he held in shaking hands. The sparklet was tiny, beautiful, still nestled close to his own spark, a thin tether of plasma linking them. Prowl had known he wanted the child, that he was looking forward to being a creator. But now, seeing them…

Prowl hugged the tablet to his chest, curling forward around it, unbearably happy. They were no longer an abstract concept, represented only by a monitor on his HUD. They were real, they were real and-and he _loved_ them!

"I love you," he whispered, even knowing they had no way to hear him. "My darling. My darling. I love you."

Prowl did not share that first image capture with his brothers. It was his and his alone – and Jazz's, if his friend so desired. Prowl very much hoped he did.

* * *

Prowl carefully monitored his fuel intake, did not push himself to stay up just that little bit longer, and took his supplements. Barricade just said it was about time he started taking care of himself, but Smokescreen was a little more worried.

"Is everything alright, Prowl?" Smokescreen asked. "You're not usually so, um, careful about yourself."

"It's for the health of the sparklet," Prowl explained. "They aren't in danger, Lifeline informs me, but I should proceed as I have been to ensure that continues."

"You really want them, don't you?" Smokescreen asked as if he'd doubted it even after Prowl had confirmed he was going to bear the child.

"I do," Prowl answered, conscious as always of the second spark nestled in his chamber, of the monitor showing green on his HUD as it monitored the sparklet's development. "I was not sure at first, but, with some time and much thought, I find I want them very much." Prowl pressed his hand to his chest plates. "Being a creator is not something I'd given much thought to, but," he smiled, "it makes me happy that I am."

"And Jazz?" Smokescreen asked gently.

"I'd like Jazz to be involved," Prowl said honestly, though he didn't reveal to his brother how much he really wanted that. "And I will let him know of the child, but it is ultimately his decision. We didn't discuss having creations, and he didn't ask for this."

"Are you in love with him?" Smokescreen asked bluntly.

"You don't need to be in love with someone to interface with them," Prowl countered. He didn't want to examine his feelings for and about Jazz with his brother. "He's a friend, it was for pleasure, that was all."

Smokescreen gave him a skeptical look but dropped it, which was just as well because Prowl didn't want to argue with his brother. Either of his brothers: Barricade was still angry with Jazz, who he perceived as having taken advantage of Prowl no matter that lying with Jazz had been Prowl's idea. Prowl was the youngest of the three siblings, and Barricade, who had taken on a parental role since their creators' deaths, sometimes had trouble seeing him as an adult. Prowl knew that the presence of the newspark hadn't changed his brother's mind any.

"What are you going to do if the land-dweller does want the newspark?" Barricade demanded, aggressive with worry. "If he tries to take them?"

"Jazz won't simply take them from me," Prowl said, although he and Jazz hadn't discussed this and - no. "He may want to come to some form of custody arrangement, but he's hardly going to kidnap them."

"Mecha can get possessive when it comes to their creations," Barricade warned.

Prowl didn't feel he was possessive of his creation, though he did love them deeply, and while it would hurt to part from his friend and sparklet's ignis if Prowl had to choose, his creation would win every time.

"Then you'll help me to protect them," Prowl said, choosing not to argue with his sibling and instead play to his nature. Unsurprisingly, it worked.

"Yeah," Barricade agreed, mollified and looking pleased that his brother trusted him to protect his nibling. "I will."

* * *

Prowl's fourth appointment with Lifeline brought some concerning news: Prowl's forge was not engaging as it should and, as Lifeline had worried, there was a risk of early emergence. The sparklet wouldn't descend to their structure for a while yet, so they were currently safe. But, once they did descend to their own spark chamber, that might no longer be the case.

Prowl pressed a hand to his chest plates. The sparklet had only recently become big enough for him to feel, just, the heat they generated below his armour.

"Was it something I did?" he asked, worried he'd missed something in his recent self-care or done something unthinking years ago to cause this. Some injury he'd suffered and not taken care of the way he should, perhaps.

"No, Prowl," Lifeline reassured him. "It's nothing you did. This has had the potential to be an issue since you onlined. It might have turned up on your first carry or second if you chose to have another. This is something we've seen before, and we'll do our best to keep you both healthy. But," she continued, "that doesn't mean there aren't risks. In fact, I want to admit you to the hospital and keep you on bed rest so I can monitor you."

"Yes," Prowl said quickly. "Yes, of course. I'll do whatever you need me to, to keep my sparklet safe."

Lifeline smiled at him. "I know you will."

Prowl's brothers were, predictably, worried by this news and hovered while he got himself settled in his hospital room. It was private, had a chair for a visitor and a birthing pool since he might experience a fast emergence even if it wasn't an early one. (Prowl couldn't say he objected to the fast one, as long as his child was safe.)

"And she's sure this is necessary?" Barricade demanded for the fourth time as Prowl adjusted the angle of the bed to his liking.

"Yes, she's sure," Prowl repeated and let Smokescreen adjust his pillow. "I'm primarily here to be monitored, but also to stop early emergence if necessary, and to make sure the child receives intensive post-emergence care if required."

"Hopefully, it won't be necessary," Smokescreen murmured worriedly. "Is there anything you need, Prowl?"

The only thing Prowl really needed, apart from his child's safety, was to talk to Jazz, but that was not something his brothers could provide.

"No," he said simply, "thank you."

Prowl loved his brothers dearly, but he was relieved when visiting joors ended, and he was left alone. Well, not alone, he thought, hand pressed to the sparklet's warmth. It would be some time before he was truly alone, though Prowl couldn't regret a nano-klik of that.

 _You are worth it all_ , he thought to the sparklet, even though they had no way to understand, and stroked his chest plates. One day they would be able to understand, and he would tell them then. _I love you_.

* * *

The sparklet made the transition from Prowl's spark chamber to its own developing structure without incident, moving from one to the other seamlessly during the night. Prowl woke up to a HUD full of messages, all positive, and the sparklet and structure development widgets on his HUD having merged. The heat of the sparklet had already faded from his chest plates, and Prowl moved his hand down to his abdomen, still flat, and felt the tiniest, barely-there, flutters, if only for a few kliks. He was still lying there, hand on his stomach, hoping to feel more, when Lifeline came in for his morning check.

"I saw on your morning scan results that the sparklet has migrated," she said, scanning him. "How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful," Prowl said, meaning it. He hadn't been able to stop thinking of that tiny, amazing, feeling of movement. "I felt them move."

"Oh, that's a good sign!" Lifeline said, smiling. "It's a basic motor integration test. You'll start feeling them more frequently as they get closer to term. They'll smack the inside of your forge with their tail or kick you if they develop bipedally, in other words."

"Can you tell yet which mode they're developing in?" Prowl asked.

"Mm, not yet. Right now, they're building their basic endostructure, and they aren't much more than struts, cranial unit, and spark chamber," Lifeline explained. "They'll have those regardless of what mode they're in, but in a few deca-cycles, we'll be able to tell if their leg struts have locked together to develop as a tail or not." She smiled. "If they develop in alt, they'll be able to impact your inner forge twice as often."

"As long as they're safe," Prowl murmured.

"And to help ensure that," Lifeline said, "I'm increasing your mineral supplements again. The mechlet's systems will draw metals from you to ensure their structure is correctly constructed. They'd be fine, but we might start to see some deficiencies in you."

Prowl didn't like the mineral supplements, but he understood the necessity of them. "Yes, Lifeline."

"It will also help prevent damage to your forge during emergence," she added. "Although it may also slightly increase the chance of emergence happening early, it's one more way to make sure your mechlet has a healthy parent."

Prowl nodded, hand still over his forge though perhaps a touch protectively now. "Of course. I'd do anything for them."

Lifeline smiled. "I know. I'll send you a file that will give you an idea of what your mechlet looks like at each stage of development so you can follow along."

"Thank you."

Prowl soon fell into the habit of checking the file at least once a week, keeping track of his sparklet's growth between scans. He eagerly accepted the images from each scan as well, watching as his child's spark was slowly enclosed and their faceplates gained detail. His abdomen swelled steadily with the growth of the mechlet, and Prowl always had at least one hand on it, gently rubbing both to ease the slight discomfort and because it was as close as he could get to holding his child.

"Do they have you on the good drugs or something?" Barricade asked during one visit with a frown. "You're not usually so – " he waved a hand to indicate all of Prowl.

"He can't have drugs; he's gestating," Smokescreen corrected. "But you do seem different, Prowl."

Prowl hadn't been prescribed drugs, true, but Lifeline had installed a small program that helped keep his tensors relaxed to help prevent early emergence. It didn't affect the mechlet at all, but it did help keep them safe. But beyond that…

"I'm happy," Prowl said simply. "My child is safe, every day it's more likely they will stay safe, and – I love them." His voice caught a little and he reset his vocalizer. "I love them _so_ much."

"Huh," Barricade said. "Seems weird to be so over the moons when you haven't even met the sprocket, but as long as you're happy, I guess."

Prowl ran his hands over the curve of his forge, smiling gently. The mechlet moved within him. "Yes, I am."

* * *

The end of the storm season was approaching, and Prowl was nervously anticipating getting back into contact with Jazz and not just because he wanted to tell him of the child. Jazz was a good friend, and Prowl hoped he would continue to be, even if he did not choose to be in the mechlet's life as a parent. Prowl would accept whatever Jazz chose, but he hoped that Jazz would want the role of sator. Once the storms began to wane, one of his brothers would take a message for him.

But Jazz's message came first.

' _Hey, Prowler! Been missing you. Hope you're doing okay down there. Really want to see you again, but, uh, I got this really great offer to do a temporary teaching gig, and it's halfway across Cybertron. I'll be back for the summer, though, and I still got another of these robo-minnow things, so I can let you know when I'm back. Hope it'll be on time, 'cause I sure do miss you. I just can't give up the chance to teach what I know, y'know? Not many of us luthiers left who do it the old-fashioned way, by hand. Gonna be thinking of you while I'm gone, that's for sure._ '

The message continued with the college's name and Jazz's approximate return date, but those seemed less critical. Prowl had wanted to have a message brought to Jazz and get a reply – any kind of reply! – right away, but it seemed he would have no luck with that. He would need to contact his child's ignis another way.

A search revealed that the college Jazz had chosen was not near any waterways. Sending one of his brothers with a message was out of the question. Prowl did not want his siblings on land longer than necessary and certainly not so far from home and help. He did not have Jazz's DataNet address, and personal DataNet access was next to impossible to achieve in Praxus anyway. Nor did Prowl want to risk anyone reading his outgoing message. He'd have to send a letter. It had been some time since Prowl had written anything by hand, but it seemed appropriate, more personal, than a printed message for this.

The opening was easy, certainly: putting down the location, date, greeting, and so forth. The rest proved significantly more difficult, and Prowl went through several writing sheets and often had to pause and compose himself. Too many versions were stiff and formal, perhaps even off-putting, and others were too emotional. Prowl didn't want Jazz to think he was upset by this, or with him, because Prowl truly was not. Finally, Prowl chose to write down the truth in simple, forthright wording, recognizing that it would have been better in person, but not hiding anything.

_There is no delicate way to tell you this, so I will be straightforward: the night we spent together, you struck a spark in me._

Prowl's hand trembled, and it showed in his script, but he decided not to write it out over again. Prowl stroked his free hand over his abdomen as if comforting the mechlet within. The mechlet was merrily turning somersaults and almost certainly did not need it, but Prowl felt better. Prowl continued on, still putting down the bare truth, including that he accepted Jazz's choice and that he was overjoyed to be a creator.

"And I am overjoyed, little one," he said out loud. The file said that the sparklet's audio receptors were online, and they could hear things happening outside the forge. He sometimes played Jazz's first message to them so they could hear their ignis' voice too. "I love you."

The mechlet stretched, jamming tiny hands or feet into Prowl's forge, then relaxed, and Prowl smiled fondly before continuing his letter. He did not write much more, doubting Jazz would even process it but did request a response. Prowl didn't think he _needed_ to ask for a reply, but – he wanted to. He wanted Jazz to know Prowl wished to hear from him, no matter what. Prowl gave the letter to his brothers before he could change his mind.

"What happens if you don't hear back from him?" Barricade asked.

Prowl was sure he would, but he simply shrugged one shoulder. "Then that will be a response of its own."

As the deca-cycles passed and changed into orbital cycles, Prowl's certainty became tinged with doubt. Surely it couldn't take so long for a letter to be received? And a response to be sent? Jazz might not be near the ocean, but he would think to send a drone to the family member watching his home to throw into the water for him, wouldn't he? Prowl tried to not to worry or wonder if perhaps something had happened to Jazz. There would be a reason for the silence, surely.

Lifeline had Prowl lying on his back now to help keep his fuel pressure down, and that was where he was when Barricade came in and handed him a messenger-drone. Prowl almost sat up.

"Barricade?" Prowl asked, hoping.

"Saw the land-dweller's kin toss it into the water," Barricade said gruffly. "Guessing it's from your mech."

Prowl was eager and nervous about what was on the messenger drone, but: "why were you near enough to see it? Your patrol doesn't go anywhere near there."

Barricade shrugged. "Been going by regularly, figured if you did get a message, you'd want it fast and coming straight to you. I know it's been bugging you, not hearing from your land-dweller."

Prowl smiled up at his brother. "Thank you, Barricade."

"Yeah, well," Barricade looked away. "You know."

"I know."

"So," anyone but Barricade would have fidgeted, "I'll let you listen to that on your own, okay?"

"Yes," Prowl said, hand curling close around the little drone. "Thank you."

When Barricade was gone, Prowl plugged the drone into his data port and listened to it on his internal systems. Jazz's voice, dear and missed and admittedly sounding slightly stressed, played through his audials.

' _Prowl, hi. I-I got your letter pretty recently, it took two orbital cycles to get to me, and I'm not near an ocean, but I'm having this drone shipped back as fast as I can, and Stepper'll throw it in the sea for me. I'm sorry, I know you must have been wondering – anyway. I have to tell you, and I'm sorry for this too, but I don't know how I feel about being a-a parent. I wish I had an answer for you. Haven't really had time to think, and I'm sending this message right away 'cause I know you've been waiting. Maybe I'll have one for you by the time I get back. I'm going to finish up here quick as I can and head home. I don't know what I want to do, except to talk to you first. You deserve that, Prowl, no matter what. And, you asked me to be happy for you, and I am._ ' Jazz's voice softened. ' _I am, Prowler._

_'I'll be back soon. Promise.'_

Prowl shut his optics off and sighed in relief. Jazz had simply not gotten his message until recently, explaining his silence. Jazz didn't know what he wanted to do regarding the child, but that was not unexpected. Prowl hadn't known what he wanted to do initially either.

"You know, even if he doesn't want to be part of the child's life, we're still here for you," Smokescreen said gently, sitting by Prowl's bed in the single visitor's chair. Prowl was allowed to sit up again, his fuel pressure having decreased after he'd listened to Jazz's message. "It's been nearly an orbital cycle."

"It's been little more than half of one," Prowl corrected. "And Jazz has obligations to his employers, as well as no more messenger drones. I can hardly expect him to drop everything for me."

"You could expect him to drop it for his child," Smokescreen countered.

"He still has responsibilities," Prowl insisted. "And, he has only just learned of the child. Remember that it took me some time to decide I would keep them as well."

"And you're sure he'll come?" Smokescreen asked.

"Yes." Prowl reclined the bed a little bit, running his hands over the curve of his forge, picturing his mechlet. There would be another image of them to show Jazz soon; Prowl had put together a collection. "I'm sure."

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
> 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
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> Author Responses: This author replies to comments. If you don't want a reply for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with "whisper," and I will appreciate it but not respond.


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